I've come to terms that whenever I'm in need of a stress reliever I find comfort in reading. Instead of going out in high school I had a tendency to just sit and read a book for hours or until I finished it, whichever came first. To be completely honest, I was okay with that. I got more excited about getting a new book than I if I got an A on an exam.

I loved books so much because they always enabled me to disappear in a world unlike the one we live in. I got to experience adventures better than anything reality could offer. Reading helped keep me sane, it helped keep me grounded. It gave me an excuse to disappear for a few hours. I ended up being able to step out of the confinements of reality, jump into the plot and not look back for a while. I always get socially invested in a book because there's just something about the way the I fall in love with books that make them so special to me. I'll be honest, I cry way too much when I read a book. I can't even begin to describe it but when I just completely fall into the plot, it's like I'm right there watching everything. I learn who the characters are, I relate to them on personal and emotional levels. I've never quite understood why but it's never really bothered me. I knew that when I got stressed there was always a book to be read and I found a lot of comfort in that.

And so I say to the authors that have changed my life, thank you. Thank you for giving me the chance to learn more about myself through another character than I would have ever learned on my own.